Auf dem Newski-Prospekt in St. Petersburg.

Title

Auf dem Newski-Prospekt in St. Petersburg.

Description

View depicting the lively activity on Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg, with numerous staffage figures, including pedestrians, horse-drawn sleighs, and a horse-tram. After Gustav Broling, published by the "Allgemeine Illustrirte Zeitung. Über Land und Meer".

ca. 1875

Artist

Über Land und Meer. Allgemeine Illustrirte Zeitung (1858-1923)

-Über Land und Meer. Allgemeine Illustrirte Zeitung- was one of the most important German-language illustrated family and cultural magazines of the 19th century. First published in 1858 by Eduard Hallberger in Stuttgart, it was aimed at a broad middle-class readership and combined current affairs with richly illustrated articles on history, geography, science, art, literature, and travel. The magazine became especially renowned for its high-quality wood engravings and, later, its photographs, which offered readers fascinating views of distant places at a time when travel was beyond the reach of most people. In addition to news reports and feature articles, it published serialized novels, biographies of notable personalities, and reports on the latest scientific and technological developments. Today, Über Land und Meer is regarded as an important cultural document of the German Empire and remains highly valued by collectors for its outstanding illustrations and historical significance. For antiquarian booksellers and collectors, the richly illustrated volumes published during the 19th century are particularly sought after for their high-quality printed engravings and their considerable cultural and historical significance.

Historical Description

In the area of St. Petersburg since the 10th century representatives of various Finno-Ugric peoples lived mostly on agriculture. At the beginning of the 14th century, Sweden and Novgorod quarreled over the area. A Swedish settlement at this place, handed down as Landskrona, was allegedly destroyed in 1301. After that, it was agreed that the region should be considered as a buffer zone between the spheres of influence, where no fortresses could be built. In the following centuries, the area was used at least as a landing place for ships sailing on the Neva River, and possibly as a trading center. The latter certainly applies to the period of renewed Swedish dominance in the region after the construction of the Nyenschanz fortress in 1611 and the Nyen settlement that soon surrounded it. Both were located in the urban area of present-day Saint Petersburg on the northern (or right) bank of the Neva River. There is evidence of major urban development ambitions of the Swedes for Nyen in the 17th century. However, these suffered a severe setback when the settlement and fortress were destroyed by Russian troops in 1656 during the Second Northern War. Reconstruction was soon followed by the final conquest of Nyenschanz on May 1, 1703, during the Great Northern War, by the Russians under Sheremetev, who were advancing down the Neva. Nyen had already been preemptively cleared and partially destroyed by the Swedes themselves by this time. The end of Nyen and Nyenschanz simultaneously marked the beginning of the city history of Saint Petersburg in 1703, the year in which the foundation stone for the Peter and Paul Fortress, named after the Tsar's namesake, was laid on an island opposite Nyenschanz in the Neva Delta.